November 2014 Housing Starts in Canada

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2014) - The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 195,792 units in November compared to 195,796 in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)¹ of housing starts.

"The trend essentially held steady for a third consecutive month in November," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's Chief Economist. "This is in line with our expectations for 2014, of a stable national picture with new home building concentrated in multiple starts, particularly in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario."

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of Canada's housing market. In some situations analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading, as they are largely driven by the multi-unit segment of the market which can vary significantly from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 195,620 units in November, up from 183, 659 in October. The SAAR of urban starts increased to 176, 343 in November, from 164, 784 in October. The increase was concentrated in multiple urban starts, which reached 112,583 in November, while single-detached urban starts decreased to 63,760 units.

Growth in urban housing starts was led by British Columbia and followed by Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada, while urban housing starts decreased in the Prairies.

Rural starts² were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19,277 units.

¹ All starts figures in this release, other than actual starts and the trend estimate, are seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) - that is, monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. By removing seasonal ups and downs, seasonal adjustment allows for a comparison from one season to the next and from one month to the next. Reporting monthly figures at annual rates indicates the annual level of starts that would be obtained if the monthly pace was maintained for 12 months. This facilitates comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

² CMHC estimates the level of starts in centres with a population of less than 10,000 for each of the three months of the quarter, at the beginning of each quarter. During the last month of the quarter, CMHC conducts the survey in these centres and revises the estimate.

Preliminary Housing Starts data is also available in English and French at the following link: Preliminary Housing Starts Tables

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

Follow CMHC on Twitter @CMHC_ca

This release is also available at www.cmhc.ca.

Additional data is available upon request.

(Ce document existe également en français)

A table and a graph are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/982869a.pdf